Apology
by Coopereid
Summary: One-shot. Spencer attempts to apologize to Emily for snapping at her and never really welcoming her to the team.


Spencer stood outside the apartment door, a gift bag in his hands. He had never been great at apologies, and he knew he wasn't going to start excelling at them now. He had been rude to a lot of members of the team while going through narcotics withdrawals, but he was especially malicious toward Emily, mainly because he couldn't decide if she was genuinely concerned or just wanted him off the team. Once he realized that Emily had cared for him and wanted to see him get better, he knew that he'd messed up.

To figure out what to do, he'd gone to Garcia.

* * *

"Boy Wonder, on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being saying she looked just _okay_, and 10 being calling her fat when it's her time of the month, how badly did you mess up with this lady?" she asked, spinning around in her chair.

He raised an eyebrow. "I um, maybe a four? It doesn't really fit into that scale, but I was less than nice to her when she just wanted the best for me, and I feel that I owe her an apology of some sort."

She leaned back in her chair, chewing on her cheek before exhaling. "There are few things you can never go wrong with when it comes to a woman: flowers, chocolates, or something that piques her interest. If you know her personally, you'd be able to pick out something heartfelt and when she realizes that, you'd be forgiven like that." She snapped her fingers, looking up at him. "Do you think you could do it?"

He thought to himself and nodded. "I think I can handle it. Thank you, Garcia. You may have just saved me a lot of awkward tension."

"No problem. Do I get to know who the lucky lady is?"

He shook his head. "Not quite yet."

She shrugged. "I always find out."

"And believe me, I have faith that you will."

* * *

Now Spencer was standing in front of her door, holding his fist up and willing himself to knock on the door. He took a deep breath before finally knocking, stepping back slightly and shifting awkwardly on his feet. He couldn't help but wonder if Emily was even home and if he'd come all of this way for nothing. When he was ready to turn around and walk away, he heard footsteps approaching the door and straightened up, preparing himself for the following conversation.

Emily opened the door, dressed in clothes much more casual than he was used to seeing her in: a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, along with flip flops. She raised an eyebrow, looking at him. "…Hey, Reid, what brings you here?"

He cleared his throat. "I could come back, if this is a bad time or you were up to something. In fact, I'll just head out now. I'm sorry for bothering you."

"Reid?"

He looked up at her. "…Yes?"

"Since you came all this way, would you like to come in for a drink, maybe tell me _why_ you came all of this way?"

He nodded. "If it's not too much trouble, that would be great."

She held the door open, allowing him to step inside. She then walked to the kitchen, taking a water bottle out of the fridge and setting it on the counter for him.

"So what brings you to my side of town on a Saturday morning?" she asked, leaning against the counter.

He cleared his throat, setting the gift bag on the counter beside her. "That, um, that's for you."

She grabbed the bag. "You bought me a present? You do realize it's not _my_ birthday, mainly because _your_ birthday didn't just pass?"

He nodded, biting his lip and shifting on his feet. "It's not a birthday present."

"Then what is it?"

"…An apology."

"You've lost me."

He straightened up. "Do you remember the case in Houston, when we were looking for the unsub we assumed was homeless, and we went to that homeless shelter together?"

"Yeah, I'm with you so far."

He exhaled. "I said a lot of things I regret, and I wanted to apologize."

"Reid-"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but I need to get this out. You asked what was the matter with me, because you were concerned about my well being and my ability to still do this job. Rather than giving you a straight answer, I snapped at you, and said that you didn't really know me long enough to make a suggestion that something was wrong. Looking back on it, I realized that you had my best interest at heart and I'm sorry for acting like a fool."

She stood up. "Are you okay?"

"I dealt with my problem, and I'm in a much better place right now."

She gave him a smile. "Well, I'm glad to hear it."

"Thank you?"

"Now," she started, looking in the bag, "what does the great Doctor Reid consider a great present to give to someone when he feels the need to apologize?"

"If you don't like something, I can take it back. I just thought of things you liked and threw them into a bag together."

She shook her head. "I'm sure it's fine." She reached in the bag, taking out a book. Smiling to herself, she realized it was a copy of _Slaughterhouse-Five._" Do you realize this is my favorite book, and I lost my copy _years_ ago?"

"I didn't exactly know that much detail, but um, before the case in the New York suburb, I heard you and Morgan bonding over Kurt Vonnegut, and I remember hearing the title of that book. I was just hoping you didn't already have a copy of it."

"Well, as I've said, I don't, so I appreciate it." She dug back into the bag and pulled out a DVD. "A copy of _Solaris_?"

"It's in Russian, and after the case involving your mother where you spoke Russian so fluently-"

"It's actually my favorite foreign film," she said, holding it up. "Thank you."

She proceeded to pull out a few candy bars that she'd selected at airports before flights and turned to Spencer. "Have you been stalking me?"

"What? No, I haven't- I haven't been stalking you, I promise. It's just, you know, I have a great memory and I remember these details about people." He stood up straight, clearing his throat. "I can go."

"It's fine, Reid." She put everything back into the bag. "This is very sweet, thank you."

He opened the water bottle she'd set out, taking a sip and setting it back down. "I was actually wondering something."

She looked at him, curious. "Go for it."

"I was wondering if I could take you out to lunch, as a final apology, as well as a 'welcome to the team' that I never officially gave you."

She thought to herself. "Well, I think it's safe to say your apology's already accepted with that," she started, motioning toward the bag.

He nodded. "I understand. I'm sorry for bothering you." He started walking toward the door.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Reid."

He turned around to face her. "Yes?"

"If you'd have let me _finish_, I was going to say 'I think it's safe to say your apology's already accepted with that, but I'd love to go out to lunch."

He smiled, watching as she gathered her things to get ready and walked over to him.

"You ready?"

He nodded, holding the door open for her.

While they were at lunch, they were able to have a discussion: the first real discussion the first of them had since she had joined the team. Spencer was surprised to learn that he had a lot in common with Emily, including a love of literature and foreign films, and enjoying spending downtime with a glass of wine and a good book. He had underestimated Emily, and he was genuinely sorry about that. Afterward he walked her back to her apartment, because it felt like the right thing to do.

When they made it to her door, she turned around to face him. "Thank you, for today. It was great to you know, actually go out with someone on the team and not talk about cases or the BAU in general. It was pretty nice to actually be able to talk about myself and get to know someone on the team from them, and not through things I hear from the rest of the team."

He smiled. "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. I have to admit, I had a pretty great time too."

"So I'll see you Monday?" she asked, looking through her purse for her keys.

He licked his lips, nodding. "I guess so, yeah."

She looked up at him. "Can I help you with something…?"

He leaned in, pressing his lips against hers and kissing her softly. She raised her eyebrows before leaning in, resting a hand on the back of his neck and kissing him back. He pulled back a minute later. "Emily, I'm so sorry."

"…You're sorry for kissing me, or you're sorry that I enjoyed it?"

He blushed, smiling. "I guess I'm apologizing for kissing you and sort of, I don't know, taking you off guard?"

"Well, believe me, I'm not." She patted his cheek. "I'm going in my apartment to crack open _Slaughterhouse-Five _and enjoy a glass of wine. You're more than welcome to join me."

He thought about it before nodding. "I… I think I'd like that."

She smiled, unlocking the door and holding it open. "Come on in, Doctor Reid."

And that was what Emily considered her and Spencer's first date – the first of many. It was always interesting to tell anybody who asked that their relationship had started with something as simple as an apology.


End file.
